Tourism Australia has teamed up with MySpace to promote myspace.com/workinoz, an interactive website featuring information for those interested in getting information on the Australian Working Holiday Visa. With the new laws on visa extensions, tourists and travel agents are able to plan the perfect trip to Oz for a Gap Year. Rodney Harrex, General Manager of Tourism Australia (UK and Europe), expects the new site to provide a wide array of information that is easy to understand and readily accessible.

“Agents can either use the site for their own knowledge or direct clients to the site for them to explore the page for themselves. It is a one stop shop of information which will help agents answer consumer queries,” he said.

The site was developed as part of a Tourism Australia campaign to target young British citizens who are eligible to take advantage of Australia’s Working Holiday Programme. A large number of people are unaware that British citizens ages 18-30 are able to work in Australia for up to 12 months under a Working Holiday Visa. The Australian Government has recently changed the laws for those holding working holiday visas allowing workers aged 18-30 to extend their visa for a second year if at least three months of the previous year have been spent picking fruit or performing other seasonal work.

“Whether your young clients want to take a gap year to pull a beer in a pub or to further their careers in their chosen professions, Australia has a huge opportunity for young Brits to discover the destination under this scheme,” Harrex said.

The MySpace site launch will coincide with a contest that will give the winner a chance to get return flights to Oz along with a four week job placement at the Cable Club Beach Club Resort in Broome, Western Australia. Individual applicants and agencies are encouraged to apply.

www.tourism.australia.com